


The Magic of Four

by DragonAngelFunandFire



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Anxiety, Attempted Murder, Bending, Deceit is actually okay, Depression, Gen, Good Deceit Sanders, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insults, Magic, Traits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-06-27 13:46:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15686628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonAngelFunandFire/pseuds/DragonAngelFunandFire
Summary: In the world, there are people who can Control: they have an element they can move, bend, Control. These are Controllers. These Controllers are separated into categories: Positive, Negative, and Neutral Traits.Virgil was raised by Deceit, a negative Trait that opposed the Trait Morality. He was raised to be Anxiety, a Trait to oppose the positive Trait Idealism. At one of the Conventions of the Traits, he encounters the normal bullying, name-calling, etc, but he is defended by the young Controllers who are being trained to be Morality, Creativity, and Logic. Why would these positive and neutral Traits choose to associate with him, Anxiety?





	1. The Water of Anxiety

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Tale of Water, Air, Earth and Fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12902064) by [natigail](https://archiveofourown.org/users/natigail/pseuds/natigail). 



> This is a modern setting, with the society of Controllers being like nobility and slightly steampunk. It is considered the mark of a distinguished Trait to use ancient weaponry. 
> 
> The Elements are not limited to the basic 4, those are just often seen as the most powerful, and most broad. A fire Controller can Control lightning, but a lightning Controller cannot Control fire. 
> 
> Think of the Traits as Houses of Nobility. Like House Potter from HP, it's Trait Anxiety here. The only difference is that there is no blood relation in the Traits.

Virgil was an outcast, in every way, shape, and form.

His mother and father disowned him for being born a water Controller in a village of fire Controllers. It led to a lot of strife in his family, accusations of cheating, and eventual banishment. His mother was also banished, but she tried to kill him as soon as that had happened, seeing him as the cause of her life being destroyed. She wasn’t wrong, but it still hurt when your own mother tries to murder you.

Virgil had been homeless for a while, living near the Puget Sound, just outside of Seattle. He had no friends, though he knew many people in the homeless population. It was interesting, he noticed, that when a person has next to nothing, they tend to share what they have more willingly. As a child, he had been taken in by another water Controller who didn’t have a name, only the title of Deceit. At only nine years old, Virgil had been chosen to be trained by one of the Traits. Still, he never forgot the kindness he was shown on the streets.

There were two types of Traits: ones that were considered positive, and ones that were considered negative. Of course, it was a bit more complicated than that, as too much of anything can be harmful, but only the ones who were considered negative ever seemed to consider that kind of thing. The positive Traits never seemed to think too much of them could be harmful, but they mostly accepted that the negative Traits had to exist, as Light cannot exist without Dark, Day needs Night, Summer needs Winter, balance must be kept. Mostly, said balance is kept by the neutral Traits, the ones who are neither positive or negative, but are always there.

There was no particular Element that is preferred for a certain Trait. After all, the previous Anxiety had been a fire Controller, and the one before her had been a lightning Controller. The current Creativity is a water Controller, but their replacement is a fire Controller. Sometimes, the apprentice for a Trait will be mentored by a different Trait, like Virgil. The current Anxiety was not a water Controller, so Deceit, who was a water Controller, was Virgil’s mentor, even though Virgil would take the mantle of Anxiety, not Deceit.

Once a Controller has taken up the mantle of a Trait, they leave their name behind, keep it a secret to tell only to their most trusted. Some never tell anyone, some tell everyone, it depends on the person. Until then, only the master knows the name of one training to be a Trait. After they take up the mantle, it becomes their choice. Most Controllers take up a mantle around age 20-25, as the training takes at least 5 years, sometimes longer. No Controller is allowed to take up the mantle before age 18, though, which is the main reason that Virgil had been training for 8 years. He only has 1 more year before he can take up the mantle of Anxiety, and, true to his name, he was quite anxious about it.

Suddenly, Deceit walked in. Broken from his musings, Virgil turned his attention to his mentor.

“Do you know what day it is, Virgil?” Deceit asked. Quickly, Virgil glanced at the calendar, and his heart sank. It was December 20th, the day after his 17th birthday, and only 11 days until the annual Convention of Traits, which was on December 31st, the last day of the year. It lasted until the end of January 1st, just before midnight when the 2nd would begin. This was a time for all Traits to come together to discuss their jobs, to debate, and to introduce trainees who are totally new or are expected to take up their mantle before the next Convention. Virgil was going to be introduced as the latter, as he was expected to take up his mantle as Anxiety on Christmas after his 18th birthday.

“I do now,” Virgil muttered with his usual sarcasm. The sarcasm was a defence mechanism he had learned from Deceit, but one he had honed into a sharp weapon.

“Little smartass,” Deceit fluffed his hair affectionately, then got serious, “Are you gonna be okay with this? We can always delay your Mantle Ceremony another year.”

“No, Anxiety wants to retire, and Curiosity will need a counterbalance. They’ve trained me well, and I am ready,” Virgil replied, referring to Elliot, the current Anxiety, who was a metal Controller. Deceit hadn’t been trusted with Elliot’s name, but Virgil had, so Virgil had to be careful with the name he had been entrusted with.

Deceit smiled, knowing that his charge was ready. When Deceit had first met little Virgil, the kid had only been 9 years old and was being taught to pickpocket by another homeless person. Deceit had been Virgil’s first target. What a beautiful coincidence that had been. Still, Deceit worried about his charge’s confidence. He knew that Virgil had problems with his self-esteem, had ever since his own family had cast him out. Virgil had fit right in with the negative Traits, as many had similar stories, neglect, abuse, banishment, simply because of something they could not control.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Deceit smiled again and told Virgil, “Then you had best start packing, and pack your ceremonial clothes. You’ll wear those for the Mantle Ceremony this time next year, but you also wear them to your introduction, to show people why you are here.”

Virgil’s ceremonial robes were beautiful. As a negative Trait, the robes were mostly black, with the royal purple that was the specific color of the Trait Anxiety, and the robes were complemented by the blue Virgil would wear underneath to show that he was a water Controller. The robes also had ceremonial sheaths for anything the future Anxiety could ever wield, though Virgil prefered to use two daggers, each about as long as his forearm. At his Mantle Ceremony, Anxiety (Elliot) would hand to Virgil the symbol of the Trait Anxiety, a symbol which only the current and previous Anxieties knew. Virgil had no idea what it would be, and he knew it was different for each Trait. Honestly, he suspected the symbol for Trait Creativity was the crown they all wore, and the symbol for Trait Logic was the necktie. Those never changed between the people of the Trait.

“Alright,” Virgil sighed, and left to go pack. He had a strange feeling that this year’s Convention would be different that any he had attended yet.


	2. The Fire of Creativity

Roman was popular, and he knew it.

He was a fire Controller, meaning he was powerful. He was training his fire under Trait Morality, who was a fire Controller themself, but didn’t have quite the necessary balance of right vs. wrong to be the next Morality, so he was training to be the next Creativity, who directly opposed Stagnance.

He was friends with the future Logic and Morality. Pat, the future Morality, was an air Controller training under the current Logic, also an air Controller. Lo, the future Logic, was an earth Controller training under the current Sleep. Re, the next Sleep, was a little strange. Roman didn’t know them very well, but they were training under Creativity, as Re was an ice Controller, and it was close enough to water that Creativity could train them. It was basically a big game of trade the apprentice.

Roman knew that Pat, Lo, and Re were not their actual names, only nicknames. Apprentices were allowed to give nicknames to other if they wanted, but not their actual names. Only their mentors could know their actual names until they took up their mantle. Then, their names were in their control. Roman, himself, had been introduced as Ro.

Roman’s popularity was not something he actively flaunted in the faces of others, but it did occasionally make him act a bit arrogant. He had a hard time understanding why someone wouldn’t want to be his friend, why someone wouldn’t want to know him. He also had a bit of a narrow worldview, and tended to be a bit cold when it came to the negative Traits, but he was not a bully. He wasn’t like Athletic or Confidence, he didn’t actively bully the negative Traits, but he didn’t help them, either, nor was he friendly with any of them.

Roman was also very excited. This year was going to be his last as an apprentice, so he was going to be introduced at the Convention as a candidate for his mantle. Lo, Pat, and Re would all also be introduced. He knew there would be two candidates for the negative Traits, as well, to balance the two positive and two neutral Traits. He was interested to see who it would be. He did wonder if his opposite would be one of them or not. He didn’t think so, though.

Roman’s ceremonial robes were very handsome, in his opinion. They were mostly white, to signify his status as a positive Trait, with the vivid red that was the color of Trait Creativity, which would be complemented by the red that Roman would wear underneath to show that he was a fire Controller. He used a sheath for a sword, as that was his weapon of choice, as all princes should have, rather than any of the other sheaths. He would receive the symbol of Trait Creativity on his birthday, June 4th. Pat would get his sooner, as his birthday was the 14th of January, but Roman would become a Trait sooner than Lo, who would get his on the 3rd of November.

Roman wasn’t sure he was ready, to be perfectly honest. He had seen some of the actual Traits do their work, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle the workload by himself, as he would have to do after he had his mantle officially for a year. For one year after his Mantle Ceremony, he would still have the previous Creativity to help him adjust to his job, but after that, he was on his own. Still, his mentors all thought he was ready, so he would do his best to make them proud.

Mentally returning to the present, Roman looked at the clock and swore. He was late to one of his last meetings with Creativity, Joan, before the Convention! And he hadn’t packed yet! As Roman rushed off to the meeting, he felt a… feeling settle over him. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but he had a feeling this year’s Convention was going to be different than any he had attended before.

He couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit shorter this time, but I want to get the 4 intro chapters out first before getting to the actual plot.


	3. The Air of Morality

Patton was bouncing with excitement.

They were almost at the Convention! This year, the Convention was held in Seattle, Washington, but the Convention rotates every year. Patton had never been to Seattle before, so he and Morality were getting there early so that they could sightsee a bit before the Convention. He couldn’t wait to go up in the Space Needle, or climb up that one volcano that was years overdue in its eruption, oh, he was so excited!

He also couldn’t wait to see his friends. Ro was coming in the day before the Convention, Lo was going to be here about two days before, and Re lived in the area, so they could show everyone around. Re loved living in Seattle, as they were addicted to Starbucks, and, in Seattle, there is literally a Starbucks on every corner.

Patton couldn’t wait to meet the other Traits who were going to be introduced at this Convention. Oh, he knew he wasn’t supposed to want to meet the negative Traits, but he couldn’t help that he just wanted everyone to get along. He also knew that he would get to meet the one who was supposed to be his opposite, Deceit. It was a bit daunting to know that his opposite was much more experienced that he was, and older besides, but he knew that Deceit wouldn’t try anything, since he had an apprentice of his own, though he wasn’t to be the next Deceit.

As he was thinking on what he was feeling, Morality walked in. She didn’t say anything, just watched her apprentice as he meditated the way she taught him. She was so proud of the apprentice that she had come to think of as her son. She had even entrusted him with her name, Lilly. She didn’t think she was ready yet to let her little fledgling fly from the nest yet, but she knew he was ready.

“Patton,” she called softly, not wanting to interrupt him too harshly. Patton opened his eyes at the call of the woman he thought of as his mother.

“Hi, Lilly,” he smiled brightly and waved.

“Are you all packed?” she returned the smile, knowing that he most likely was, but wanting to check.

“Almost. I’m not sure how to pack my Ceremonial robes without creasing them or messing them up,” Patton pouted.

He loved his Ceremonial robes. They were mostly white, because Morality was a positive Trait, with the baby blue pattern showing the colors of Trait Morality, and he was wearing a very light blue underneath to show that he was an air Controller. Though Patton didn’t want to ever use a weapon, he had to learn one, just in case, Lilly had said, so he choose the bow and arrow. He had a beautifully decorated quiver to go with the robes, and he loved it, even if he disliked having to learn it.

“That’s okay, those will be packed in a special case, so they aren’t damaged or wrinkled by traveling. Are you excited?” Lilly told him.

“I am! I’ll get to see my friends again, and I’ll get to meet new ones, and I’ll be shown as almost an adult! I’m also slightly terrified about that last one,” Patton confessed. Meditating was all well and good, but sometimes, it was good to talk to someone to release the feelings he had just sorted out.

“That’s okay. I remember that I was terrified for my Mantle Ceremony and introduction Convention. Just remember to breathe, and remember what you’ve been taught. You’ve got this,” Lilly reminded him.

“Thanks, Lilly,” Patton replied, grateful for the advice.

“No problem, kiddo,” she said, ruffling his hair, “Just remember, you can come to me for anything.”

“Right, you’ve only said that a million times,” Patton teased.

“And who needed to be reminded a million times, hmmm?” Lilly shot back.

Patton raised his hands in surrender, “Guilty.”

“That’s right,” Lilly said, sticking her nose in the air in a joking manner. A second later, they both cracked up laughing.

After a few solid minutes of straight laughter, as both of them needed a relief from the anticipation and nervousness that this Convention was bringing, Lilly got them back on track.

“Alright, get your bags into the car, we’ll pack it up tonight, and leave bright and early in the morning,” Lilly told Patton the plan, “Do you have enough snacks?”

“You can never have enough snacks,” Patton replied with a cheeky grin.  
“Just get your stuff,” Lilly shook her head, as she couldn’t believe she fell into that trap again.

“Ok,” Patton bounded off.

Yes, he was definitely excited for the changes this Convention would bring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, school started, and I'm in 3 AP classes that are already kicking my butt. Updates will likely be few and far between for a bit, until I get my shit together.
> 
> Also, I have my black belt test for taekwondo soon. I'm stressed up to my eyeballs.
> 
> Hey, tell me, do you guys want Remy (Sleep) to stay as a background character or should I give them their own chapter and focus? Same question for Deceit, though his chapter was kind of combined with Virgil's. Oh, in Virgil's chapter, Deceit was speaking honestly, and only speaks in opposites during formal Trait meetings and things. Sorry if that wasn't clear.


	4. The Earth of Logic

Logan was unused to feeling emotions, but found he was displaying signs of nervousness.

As as future Logic, he had to be as emotionless as possible, so as to be an impartial judge in an argument between a positive and negative Trait. Still, as much as he liked to pretend, he wasn’t totally emotionless, just slightly emotionally stunted. As such, Logan often had trouble recognizing emotions, his own or those of others. He felt he was getting better, though not by much.

But back to the nervousness. Logan found that his heart was beating abnormally fast, his breathing was also slightly erratic, and his knees were weak. He doubted he would be able to stand if he were standing. Absently, something in the back of his mind classified this as a “panic attack,” but he dismissed this as something that could not possibly be happening to him. He was Logan, future Logic, panic attacks were not something that happened to the emotionless Logic.

Focusing, Logan turned his thoughts to the upcoming Convention in the hopes of distracting himself from _feelings_. He reviewed, for the umpteenth time, what, exactly, was going to happen once he arrived. Logan had no doubt that, for the first few days, Pat would drag the whole group out to sightsee, and make Re lead them around the city. Ro wouldn’t get there until the day after Logan, so Logan would have at least one full day of Pat pulling him around without a buffer, not that Ro was much of a buffer. If anything, Ro was worse.

On the day of the Convention, Logan would get dressed in his Ceremonial robes and would present himself to the Convention at the Opening Ceremony as the upcoming Trait Logic. Then, there would be lots of mingling, getting to know the two Traits that he would primarily be mediating, and there were parties thrown throughout the day for each of the upcoming Traits. Logan knew there would be at least six parties, two in the morning for Ro and Pat, two around noon for himself and Re, and two in the evening for the two upcoming dark Traits, who Logan did not know.

Around midnight, everyone would gather around the many large TV screens to watch the ball drop in New York. If the Convention was held in New York, they would all be there in person, but they did that last year, so they couldn’t do it again. Some might go into the city to watch the celebrations around the Space Needle, but that’s up to them. No one goes to sleep during the Convention, except maybe Re and Sleep. The parties, mingling, socializing, and talking lasts until the end of January 1st, at which point everyone goes back to wherever they are staying. Everyone starts to depart to their homes soon after, unless they live in the area, like Re.

After that, training continues until Logan’s birthday, November 3rd, upon which he would take up his Mantle as Trait Logic. That, however, was a while off, and Logan did not need to be thinking about that yet. He would be replacing his mentor, Talyn, who seemed, at times, ill-suited to be Logic, but she was surprisingly competent at her job. However, she wanted to be with Creativity, who was also retiring in the upcoming year. Many Traits were only Traits for ten or so years, as long as it took to train a new apprentice, as it was a hard job, being a Trait and not a person. Some Traits go insane.

Logan considered himself a good apprentice, and believed that he was adequately equipped for the role that he would soon play. He also noticed that he had an interesting ability in addition to what he could already do: he could tell if a Trait had the potential to become insane. Timing didn’t seem to matter, either. When he had first been taken on as an apprentice, he saw that Trait Happiness was about to go insane. He could physically see the cracks. On the other hand, he had seen similar crack forming in Creativity, Talyn’s best friend, but they were much smaller, and it was likely that Creativity was getting out in time to heal. He asked Talyn about it, once, and it seems that the ability to see cracks is an ability unique to the Trait Logic. As soon as one was accepted as an apprentice, the cracks showed themselves, and not just on Traits, but on normal people, too.

Talyn had told him that most other Traits had a special ability run in their lines, as well, but no one knew what the other special abilities are. Only a true Council would be able to find out. A true Council only happened when four Traits of the basic elements (fire, earth, water, and air) became, perhaps not friends, but could at least work together tolerably and properly help to govern the Traits. Despite knowing that the odds of him being on a true Council were slim to none, Logan still held the irrational hope that all Traits of the basic elements do, that he might be on a true Council. He knew that, even if a true Council was formed, he would never be one it, though. No true Council has ever had Logic as a member.

Regardless, Logan was going to become Logic soon. Nothing except his own misgivings would have the power to change that now, and he wouldn’t let his own irrational thoughts get in his way. He was determined to succeed, to be the best Logic and mediator he could be.

His thoughts were interrupted by Talyn.

“Hey, Logan, you doing okay back there?” they called, “I know you’re probably nervous, even if you’re denying it, but you don’t have to be. It’s easy! You go up to the Assembly, announce your future Trait, your Controlled element, and your birthday. After that, you step down to let the next one up.”

“Yes, do you know what order we’re going in? I’ve heard there are six of us new Traits this year,” Logan asked to steer Talyn away from the emotions. They gave him a look like they weren’t fooled, but answered the question anyway.

“All I’ve heard is that the positive Traits will be first, then the neutral Traits, then the negative Traits. If I had to guess, I’d say you would be going second of the neutral Traits, as Re’s birthday is sooner than yours,” Talyn replied.

Logan cocked his head, considering. “That sounds about right,” he replied. With that, the conversation mostly ended, with both mentor and mentee sitting in silence, contemplating the future. 


	5. The Day Before

Virgil, true to his Trait, was having anxiety.

It wasn’t just the upcoming Convention, which started tomorrow, but everything, really. The Convention, where he would be presented, brought up thoughts of the future, which Virgil never liked thinking about. Elliot was helping, as was Deceit, but Virgil was still far too anxious to enjoy much of Seattle. Even though he lived near Seattle, which he now appreciated as he never liked travelling, even for Conventions, Virgil never really got around to exploring much, too anxious to go out or too busy learning about the Traits and his role as it soon would be.

Virgil also got to learn more about the special ability of the Traits Anxiety. See, every Trait line had their own special ability that manifested when one was accepted as an apprentice of that Trait. Trait Anxiety could control shadows. It wasn’t the most subtle of abilities, but it benefitted the line of Anxiety well, as they often felt that they needed to disappear for a while, so they hide in shadows and no one could find them. There were other ways to use the shadows, of course, but that is the main thing the Traits Anxiety had used them for in the past.

  
Virgil loved his special ability. It gave him the chance to hide when he needed to, as well as the power and knowledge that he can defend himself if necessary, easing some of the ever-present anxiety. Despite this, he still found, on occasion, that he hated and feared his own water abilities. After all, these were the abilities that got him near killed by his own mother and father, but they were something he had to live with. Even if they denied it, Elliot and Deceit helped him more than they could ever know, making him use his Control during training and helping calm his irrational fear of himself and his Control. For that, he would be forever grateful.

The above information is important, given the situation Virgil is in now. He was at Elliot’s house, going over, for the hundredth time, given they were both Anxiety and both had anxiety, what, exactly, was going to happen tomorrow. True to his word, Elliot would be there the entire time, and Deceit would be there for most of it, though not the parts that were private to the line of Trait Anxiety. Despite all of this, Virgil is still deeply worried. Why, he has no idea, but he can’t seem to stop thinking about “what ifs” and the worst possible situations.

In any case, it was too late, and the Convention was tomorrow.

\---------------------------------------------

Roman was excited.

The Convention was tomorrow! Roman was literally bouncing up and down, and Joan was giving him the suspicious side-eye.

“What’s got you so bouncy?” Joan asked with a smirk, knowing full well what the answer was.

“It’s almost here!” Roman shouted while bouncing, causing Joan to rear back and cover their ears.

“What is?” Joan asked, feigning confusion, and trying to regain his hearing.

“You know,” Roman replied at a more reasonable volume, nudging Joan in a friendly manner. At almost 18, Roman was already taller than Joan, a fact that Roman took great pride in.

“You mean the Convention?” Joan still feigned confusion, messing with Roman.

“Yes, of course the Convention,” Roman huffed. Looking, he saw Joan’s grin, and realized that Joan was just messing with him. He lightly pushed Joan, causing them to stumble.

“Hey!” Joan protested, then continued, “Yes, I know the Convention is almost here. Do you know what you have to do?”

“Yeah, yeah. Come in during the ceremony when my name is called, bow, and play nice during the Convention itself,” Roman said. They had gone over this a million times!

“And what about if you meet your negative counterpart?”

“Make a good impression, be polite, but don’t try to make friends.”

“Good. I won’t be able to be with you during the whole Convention, so I want you to make a good impression on others. No Fighting!” Joan warned.

“I know. I promise I will be careful, no matter what happens,” Roman replied, sincere in his promise. Still, Joan’s warnings did nothing to dim his excitement.

However, it was late, and the Convention was tomorrow!

\---------------------------------------------

Patton was floating.

Quite literally, in this case.

Patton wasn’t sure what he was feeling. It was some mix of excitement and nervousness, that didn’t have a name, as far as Patton knew. He had had a great day, hanging out with Re, Ro, and Lo, but they had to go back to their hotel rooms, and now, Patton was alone, and he didn’t like it. His powers were a bit out of control, just floating him above the floor, not anything else, yet.

Lilly came in, then, and saw Patton floating, and knew exactly what to do: she doused him with water.

Shocked and cold, Patton fell to the ground with a thump. Thankfully, he had been floating above a pillow on the ground, but the fall still stung enough to shock him out of his spinning thoughts.

Lilly sat down beside Patton, asking, “So, what were you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

“You were floating above the ground, but you fell when I doused you. What were you thinking about?”

“The Convention,” Patton admitted with a shrug, “I’m nervous, but excited.”

“Yeah, I was, too, for my ceremony. Trust me, kiddo, you’re ready. I daresay you’ll even be better than the others being presented today. You’re gonna knock their socks off,” Lilly reassured him.

“I’m not gonna be better than Ro, Lo, or Re! I’m happy to be just as good,” Patton replied, slightly offended on his friends’ behalfs.

“Whatever, kid. You’ll be fine, go to sleep,” Lilly replied, using the special ability to calm Patton down. The special ability for Trait Morality was to know what calms someone down and always have what was needed to calm someone down. Lilly shamelessly used this whenever Patton worked himself into a frenzy, and Patton himself used it when his friends started to argue. Lo and Ro argued a lot, and Re often only stirred the pot.

“Ok,” Patton said sleepily, his worrying from earlier having worn him out.

After all, he would need his sleep; the Convention was tomorrow!

\---------------------------------------------

Logan was pacing.

He was mentally reviewing everything that would happen tomorrow, as well as everything that could happen tomorrow, so he could adequately prepare himself for the day to come. He knew that his friends would be there, and all four of them were being presented tomorrow, as well as two negative Traits that he was unfamiliar with. Should a confrontation between the positive and negative Traits occur, Logan understood that he or Re would have to step in to mediate, though Re was not likely to do so in any productive way. Logan would not interfere with altercations between adult, full Traits, but he would mediate for the apprentice Traits like himself, as the second-most senior neutral apprentice, Re being just slightly older.

With a solid plan in place (for the most part), Logan turned to his new book before his thoughts could spiral into unrealistic what-ifs. It was a sci-fi/fantasy book that he had read when he was much younger, and was re-reading now because he heard that it was being made into a movie. He hoped they didn’t mess up _Artemis Fowl_ like they did _Eragon_.

An hour later, Talyn came in and found Logan curled up on the couch around his book, asleep. They smiled, and carefully used the air to get him into bed, reflecting ruefully on the years that Logan had been their apprentice.

Logan had been a precocious child, and his intelligence had scared his parents, as did his Control. Both of his parents were minor plant Controllers. Still, they did the best they could for Logan, but when Talyn had come by looking for an apprentice, they willingly gave him up to someone who could provide him with a better life than they ever could.

As Talyn trained Logan through the years, Logan often asked questions that they could not answer, and the two of them bonded through their marathon trips to the library and desire for knowledge. Talyn truly did care for him as a parent cared for their child.

But for now, Logan was asleep, and they should be, too; the Convention was tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, life happened, and AP classes and senior year in hs are kicking my ass. Please don't be too mad.  
> This was not the chapter that I originally meant to post, but Patton and Roman derailed my plans, so here's some more character building.  
> Also, I change Anxiety's counter because I read a story that I cannot find anymore where Virgil used to be Curiosity then opened a box he shouldn't have and became Anxiety, and Patton was the only one who remembered, and I just love that idea.  
> I need a quick vote and/or suggestions: What is Roman's special ability? What is Remy's? I figured Remy could just put people to sleep, but that seems cliche to me. Roman's could be literal conjuration, but again, maybe overdone? Suggestions welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks! I know I should be working on my other story, Punks of a Feather, but this just bit me in the butt and wouldn't let go.


End file.
